HS Soccer: Suffield Boys Hope Season Brings Historic Finish

Suffield's Colton Grob, top, celebrates with teammate Ben Woodhouse after winning a third state championship in 2013. The senior hopes to make it four straight this year.

Suffield's Colton Grob, top, celebrates with teammate Ben Woodhouse after winning a third state championship in 2013. The senior hopes to make it four straight this year. (Brad Horrigan / Hartford Courant)

Last winter, Suffield High boys soccer coach Mark Beigel was looking up information in a national record book when he discovered a list of win streaks by each state.

Granby, one of the Wildcats' top rivals, held the Connecticut record with 43 consecutive victories. Suffield, which won its third straight Class M championship this past November, was eight back.

"It is out there," Beigel said Thursday after the Wildcats beat Ellington for their 38th straight victory. "We're one game at a time and we try not to talk about it, but there are some stretches in terms of consecutive games that are out there."

This season, Suffield (3-0) will take aim at more than one record held by Granby

After winning their third straight title last fall, the Wildcats will attempt to become the first team to win four straight since Granby did it in mid 80s. To accomplish the feat, they'll have to do something no team has done in boys soccer since 1975. They have to win in Class LL only a year after playing in Class M.

Suffield was moved up two divisions this year based on its success in the Class M tournament and the number of boys at the school.

"I was I telling the guys [earlier this season] 'Enough with the four-peat, enough with the past teams,''' Beigel said. "It is all about now."

Early on, Suffield looks like it belongs as a Class LL team. Despite playing two Class S teams and one Class M team to start the year off, the Wildcats have continued to play at a quick pace and shown an ability to control possession for long stretches, like they've done the last few years.

South Windsor High School defeated RHAM-Hebron Tuesday afternoon during their girls soccer season opener. (John Woike)

"Our approach is the same every year," Beigel said. "My goal is always that we work at learning the value of hard work and dedication to your team and representing the town in a positive way. I always feel like if you dedicate yourself to those three things good things happen and you put yourself in position."

Of course, it helps that the Wildcats return one of the best midfielders in New England in Colton Grob, midfielder David Biederman, defender Matt Guminiak and one of the best senior classes in the area.

"This is a big senior class," Beigel said. "They've got a lot of maturity and they're well-rounded. They've all been playing with each other for a long time. They all went through travel. They've always stuck together. It is a tight group."

Grob was All-State as sophomore and All-New England as a junior. As a freshman he was named MVP of the state championship..

"We a very versatile team," Grob said. "We try to keep [the win streak] in the back of our mind, but we want to keep it game by game."

A Strong Start For Simsbury Girls

Simsbury girls coach Jim Bayer said on Friday he's always had athletic players. But this season the difference has been the team's commitment to becoming better soccer players.

"We do have a lot of good athletes, but this year we play more soccer than we have in the past," Bayer said. "They get it now. It's clicking for them."

On Friday, the Trojans' commitment to the new season certainly came across on the field.

Simsbury defeated Northwest Catholic, 2-0, in a CCC West game in West Hartford. It was Northwest Catholic's first loss in West Hartford since 2009 and the first time it was shut out at home in six years.

"We have a good team this year, but until you beat the Northwest Catholics and Halls it doesn't mean anything, so I'm happy for the team," Bayer said. "It's a good win for us. It is good for the confidence."

The Trojans (4-0-1) have been led by a mix of players from all grades, which include senior Maggie Grigely, senior Carly Heintz, senior Kaleigh Heffernan and freshman Kate Werle. … Middletown's Joey Pizzuto has seven goals in the Blue Dragons first five games as the Blue Dragons have started the season 5-0.